Crafting the New Workplace

What am I up to right now?

The answer to that never-ending question

I regularly get asked what I’m up to. Here’s the official list, current as of January 2017. Am I busy? NO! Read why below.

Work

I’m a big fan of Fractional Work. I find that I’m more productive when working on various projects and cross-referencing my learnings amongst all of them. The only downside is that describing what I do at a cocktail party is awkward.

My main gig is currently Director of Front End Engineering at Raise.com, a giftcard marketplace in Chicago. I spend my time leading a team of amazing Front-End Developers and coding. If you’re in Chicago, you should reach out to me and swing by for lunch.

My passion for technology and mentoring comes out in my primary side project, Modern Web. Modern Web is a worldwide community of technologists centered on ModernWeb.com where I serve to mentor those in technology in various forms, with the goal of helping each person I work with unlock their full potential.

Startups & Advising

I love startups. I love the energy, solving problems and the challenges of solving problems. I work with many startups in many capacities. Often, startups need a seasoned executive to help guide their success. I enjoy filling this role and do it with several companies.

I’m serving as SuperBetter’s Chief Technology Officer. SuperBetter is a Chicago startup aimed at helping people recover from Mental Illness and Traumatic Brain Injury. It’s a great app that helps a lot of people and I’m proud to be part of it.

I serve as the Chief Information Officer for Rent Like a Champion. They’re a great Chicago startup story that aired on Shark Tank and received a deal from Shark’s Mark Cuban & Chris Sacca. I was part of the technology team that helped keep the website running when the episode aired. It was a blast and I’m continuing to help the company.

I mentor the CEO of Langa.io, a Node.js consulting company out of Norfolk, Virginia, by serving as their COO.

I mentor the CEO of Clutchwork, a small consulting company out of Omaha, Nebraska, by serving as their COO.

I work as an advisor to GetBric, a service resources projection planning platform based in Omaha, Nebraska.

Community

Giving back is very important to me. This means spending time with various causes I care about, mostly Technology and Open Source related.

I’m blessed with an amazing family. Our three girls are growing like crazy and I take every chance I can get to play with them, teach them about computers and electronics and all the geeky things they can handle. We home-school all of them at the moment, which is great. We’re taking it a year at time, but enjoy it because my wife and I both actively participate in their learning adventure.

Where to find me

I live and work online. I spend a significant amount of my day plugged in and am generally available.

I often hesitate to list all the things I do because I inevitably get asked, “So, you must be crazy busy, right?”. In a word, no. My view is that you’re only busy if you live an overwhelming, out of control life. Is that harsh? Sure, but it’s also honest. I hate being busy and strive to manage my time and direct it towards what matters to me most.